Capwell: Fellow dog owners — train your pet to behave in public

I’m sure many of you think your family friend is a fluffy good boy, but it seems no one has told you this won’t always be the case outside your home.

Every day I walk my dog around Wellington — anywhere from Westboro to Mechanicsville — and almost every day we pass another dog aggressively lunging and barking at mine. Haunches up, ready to fight, as my dog calmly walks beside me without reaction.

I would say this problem is getting worse lately (I’ve owned dogs all my life) but it’s likely that I’m just more aware of it now that I’m a father. When I’m walking my dog these days, my infant child is usually in the stroller with us. So every time this happens now, I need to be prepared to step between a charging dog and my kid. This is not OK.

I’m sure many of you think your family friend is a fluffy good boy because that’s how he behaves with you, your friends, and your family; but it seems no one has told you this won’t always be the case outside your home. Your dog is an animal, and if its leash slips out of your grip and it attacks another person or dog, your beloved family friend is likely getting put down.

That’s not a risk I’m willing to take with my own dog, so she is reasonably trained. She doesn’t compete in dog shows, but she knows what “heel” means.

Many of you love to say “Oh, they just want to play” or “oh, that’s ___ insert breed name ___ for you” but if your dog’s haunches are up, you have a problem you need to correct. If your dog’s behaviour would frighten a child, regardless of you believing the dog just wants to play or not, you have a problem you need to correct. I certainly don’t want to be the reason families don’t feel safe walking in my neighbourhood, and I hope you don’t either.

I’m not sure if this a COVID issue; perhaps the influx of new dogs from working at home or business limitations have led to less training opportunities, but there are online resources available to us all. A quick Google of “how to train my dog to heel” yields more than nine million results, but the first page of results will likely suffice if you can’t find a local trainer. I understand it’s a process; I don’t begrudge anyone who is actively working on this. It’s those of you with your “Oh, ugh, sorry” who go on your way and think nothing more of the interaction that just occurred — you are the problem.

Please remember that dogs take work; not just to house-train, or to stop from chewing your slippers, but to interact responsibly wherever you might take them. Simply crossing to the other side of the road to avoid passing dogs won’t always be enough; you need to do more to be a responsible dog owner.

Brett Capwell is a long-time dog owner and new father to a beautiful baby girl. And while her speech is currently limited, she has expressed a strong disinterest in being collateral damage to a canine skirmish.